Container



Dec. 15 1942. 'e. w. GOODWILN CONTAINER- Fi'led March 25, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR.

. Georae M aoaw/fl BY M M M. ATTORNEY.

Dc. 15, 1942. w oopwm 2,305,349

CONTAINER FiledMarch 25, 1940 2 Shee ts-She t 2 INVENT OR Patented Dec.15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER George W. Goodwin, ShakerHeights, Ohio Application March 25, 1940, Serial No. 325,716

3 Claims.

My invention relates to containers for frozen foods, and moreparticularly to containers for ice cream.

An object of my invention is to provide an original container for frozenfoods which can be cut in half along a weakened line and the two halvesfolded back along a hinge line to enable a person to put the ice creamin the freezing compartment of a refrigerator.

Another object of my invention is to provide a container for frozenfoods such as ice cream which can be out along a preexisting line toenable a person to put the container-in the freezing compartment of arefrigerator.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a container forfrozen foods having a line along which the container can be cut andanother line along which it can be folded to change it from a packagewhich is too thick to readily place in a freezing compartment of arefrigerator to a thin package which can be easily slipped in.

A still further object of my invention is to enable a purchaser of icecream to conveniently cut the package in which the ice cream ispurchased and slip the cut package in the space in the freezingcompartment of a refrigerator which is normally occupied by one tray ofice cubes.

Still another object of my invention is to split a carton of frozen foodinto two substantially equal portions.

Still another object of my invention is to establish a perforate linealong which a carton may be out to reduce its thickness and to soconstruct the carton that the overlapping which is necessary to fastenit together lies adjacent to the perforate portion thereby preventingthe contents of the carton from leaking out of the perforations.

A- further object of my invention is to provide a double container forfrozen foods; the inner container of which is removable from the outercontainer and which is separated along three sides to allow a purchaserto cut the food and fold open the container with the food therein toreduce the thickness of the container and permit the container to beplaced in a relatively thin compartment in a refrigerator.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in combinationwith the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows in plan a blank applicable to the forming of a cartonwhich embodies the features of my invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the. blank shown in Figure 1 as theblank is being folded into a carton;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of my carton as formed from the blankshown in Figure 1 after the carton has been out along a prepared line;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of another form of my invention; and

Figure 5 is a view of the inside container shown in Figure 4 after theinside container has been removed from the outside container and foldedopen.

My invention is adapted to make containers for frozen foods such asBirdseye frozen foods and ice cream containers more convenient for thepurchasing public to handle. The standard sized frozen food containersand the common pint and quart containers for ice cream are of an awkwardshape which does not readily permit a purchaser to place the containerin the freezing compartment of a home refrigerator.

In order for a person to put a package in the freezing compartment, itis sometimes necessary for him to remove several trays of ice cubes andthe metal division plate between the trays. To obivate this difficulty,I have provided my container with a weakened line which divides thecontainer substantially in half and along which the purchaser can out.By cutting along this weakened line, the purchaser severs the contentsand three sides of the package, leaving a fourth side of the package toserve as a hinge line along which the two resultant halves of thecontainer can be swung into an end-to-end position with their two outfaces substantially in a plane. I so place the weakened line that whenmy container and contents are out along it the resultant halves aresubstantially one-half the thickness oi.

the purchased package. By so positioning this weakened line theresultant package, after cutting and folding, is relatively long and isthin and narrow. A package of this shape is easy to place in thefreezing compartment of a home refrigerator. All that is necessary toplace the package is that one ice tray be removed and the ice creamslipped in its place. The original container serves as the tray and thefood is kept in good condition. If the tray does not have ice cubes init, the ice cream in its split package may be placed in the tray and thetray returned to its place in the freezing unit.

With reference to the drawings, my invention comprises a carton orcontainer for frozen foods indicated generall by the reference character10. In Figure 1 of the drawings I illustrate a carton blank I I fromwhich my container may be formed. The blank II comprises a plurality ofportions which, when the blank is folded, become side, top, bottom andflap portions of the container I0. It is to be understood that when Ispeak of a bottom portion of the blank II it means that portion of theblank II which becomes the bottom of the container I9 after the blank isfolded and attached together to become the container. The blank Hcomprises a front face portion I2 and a back face portion I3 integrallyconnected to a base portion I4 along lines I5 and I6 respectively.Integrally connected along fold lines I1 and I8 to each side of thefront face portion I2 are side portions l9 and 20; reference character I9 indicating the left side portion and reference character 29 indicatingthe right side portion and integrally connected to the front face I2along fold line 2| is an outer top flap 22. Attached to the back face I3are left and right side portions 23 and 24 which are substantiallysimilar in shape to the left and right side portions I9 and 2|]. Theleft side portion 23 is integrally connected to the back face I3 alongfold line 25, and the right side portion 24 is integrally connected tothe back face I3 along fold line 26. A pair of inner top flaps 21 and 28are provided, 21 being the left inner flap and attached to the left sideportion 23 along fold line 29, and 28 being the right inner flap andattached to the right side portion 24 along fold line 39. An outer topflap 3| is provided and is connected to the back face I3 along the foldline 32. The outer top flap 3| comprises a broad portion 33 whichextends substantially entirely across the width of the back face I3 andwhich is connected to the back face |3 along the fold line 32 and anarrow tongue portion 35 which is integral with the broad portion 33. Agroove 36 is provided in the first outer top flap 22 into which thetongue 35 of the second top flap 3| is adapted to fit, thereby providinga tongue and groove connection for holding the top flaps in place whenthe container is closed. A right sealing flap 31 is attached to the baseportion I4 along the fold line 38, and a left sealing flap 39 isattached to the base portion I4 along the fold line 40.

A line of perforations 4| is put into the left and right side portions23 and 24.

The perforations which I illustrate are of the type where a series ofclosely spaced circular portions of the cardboard material is actuallyout out and where a small amount of cardboard material is allowed toremain between any two perforations. This type of perforation actuallyremoves a large percentage of the cardboard along the line on which aperson desires to cut and makes cutting very much easier. It is to beunderstood, however, that any other kind of perforation is within thescope of this disclosure and that any means for making the containereasier to out along line 4| is considered by the inventor to be anequivalent of the illustrated method. For example, a heavy crease alongline 4| instead of the perforations shown weakens the container andbrings it within the scope of this disclosure. Also, the well knownmethods of weakening a line such as partially cutting or indenting thematerial at closely spaced intervals is contemplated by the inventor.The sides I9 and 20 are imperforate and may be preferably weakened alonglines 42. The weakened lines may be obtained by creasing or by partiallycutting or indenting the material at closely spaced intervals.

Figure 2 illustrates the manner in which the blank illustrated in Figurel is folded to form a carton capable of holding a liquid. Theimperforate right side portion 2|] is'positioned inside the perforatedright side portion 24 and the imperforate left side portion I9 ispositioned inside the perforated left side portion 23, and they arestuck together by any suitable means such as glue. The presence of animperforate side portion, such as I9 and 20 next to the perforate sideportions 23 and 24 prevents foods from leaking out of the perforations4| in side portions 23 and 24. This is important as the commercialmethod of making ice cream causes unfrozen ice cream mix to be placed inthe containers and then it is frozen into ice cream. This ice cream mix,in its unfrozen condition, is semi-liquid and would leak out ofperforations unless there was an imperforate sheet behind it. To providea liquid seal at the bottom of the container, the sealing flap 31 ispositioned between the side portions 26 and 24, and the sealing flap 39is positioned between the side portions l9 and 23. Inner flap means 21and 28 are adapted to be folded over the contents after they are placedin the container and the outer flap portions 22 and 3| fold over theinner flap portions and hold the container shut by means of the tongueand groove connection 35 and 36.

To assure that the purchaser can easily sever the container, theweakened lines 42 register with the lines of perforations 4|. I alsoprovide for perforating the outer top flap portions 22 and 23 along aline which substantially connects the line of perforations 4| in theleft side portion 23 with the line of perforations 4| in the right sideportion 24. It will be seen that the lines of perforations liesubstantially in a plane and that the plane passes through the containersubstantially parallel to the front and back faces which comprise thebroad or wide sides of the container and that therefore, when thecontainer is out along this plane, and the container opened up along ahinge line 44, the resultant container, as shown in Figure 3, will belong and narrow and approximately one-half the original thickness.Cutting the container along this plane changes the size and shape of thecontainer enough to permit a person to put it into a standard freezingtray in an electric refrigerator. To simplify the manufacturingoperations, the line of perforations 4| in the outer top flap 22 may bemade co-extensive with the groove or slot 36. 1

Another embodiment of my invention is illustrated in Figure 4 in whichan outside container 45 of standard shape is adapted to hold an innercontainer 46. The inner container 46 is adapted to hold the frozen foodand comprises two halves 41 and 48. The two halves 41 and 48 are hingedtogether along line 49 and are adapted to fold back into an end-to-endposition as shown in Figure 5. In this embodiment no severing of thecontainer is necessary. A purchaser buys the outside container 45 withthe inside container 46 and the frozen food inside it. Upon eac n homehe ope s the outside container 45 and takes the inside container out. Aknife is passed along the plane between the two halves 41 and 48,thereby severing the food in two and allowing the container and food tobe opened into the position shown in Figure 5 and then placed in arefrigerator.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has beenmade only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details ofconstruction and the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A frozen food container severable along weakened lines, comprising amedial weakened line on two sides and the top of the container tofacilitate the severing of the container in two halves, the bottom ofthe container establishing a hinge whereby the two halves of thecontainer may be swung into a fiat end-to-end position to adapt thecontainer to be placed in the relatively shallow freezing tray of arefrigerator, each of said two sides having external perforate means andinternal weakened imperforate means, said top having external perforatemeans and internal weakened imperforate means, said external perforatemeans establishing a weakened transverse line along the two sides andthe top of the container whereby said container may be easily severedand said internal weakened imperforate means establishing an internalclosure which prevents the frozen food from leaking out of saidcontainer.

2. A frozen food container having a weakened line extending along thetop and the two sides thereof whereby said container may be easilysevered to establish two shallow halves hinged together at their bottomsand whereby the said container may be adapted to being placed in ashallow freezing compartment of a refrigerator, each of said two sideshaving external perforate means and internal weakened imperforate means,said top having external perforate means and internal weakenedimperforate means, said external perforate means establishing a weakenedtransverse line along the two sides and the top of the container wherebysaid container may be easily severed and said internal weakenedimperforate means establishing an internal closure which prevents thefrozen food from leaking out of said container.

3. In a frozen food container having two sides, a bottom and a top, of aweakened narrow portion comprising perforations extending substantiallyin a straight line intermediate the two sides and across the top of thecontainer to facilitate the severing of the container in two halves, thebottom of the container establishing a hinge whereby the two halves ofthe container may be swung into a flat end-to-end position toadapt thecontainer to be placed in the relatively shallow freezin tray of arefrigerator, each of said two sides having external perforate means andinternal weakened imperforate means, said top having external perforatemeans and internal weakened imperforate means, said external perforatemeans establishing a weakened transverse line along the two sides andthe top of the container whereby said container may .be easily severedand said internal weakened imperforate means establishing an internalclosure which prevents the frozen food from leaking out of saidcontainer.

GEORGE W. GOODWIN.

